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Friday, March 22, 2013

A superseding indictment against four Police of Puerto Rico (POPR)
officers was announced today by Roy L. Austin Jr., Deputy Assistant
Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division; Rosa Emilia
Rodriguez-Velez, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico; and
Carlos Cases, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Juan Field Office.

POPR Lieutenant Erick Rivera Nazario and Officer David Colon Martinez
were indicted on civil rights charges alleging that they violated the
constitutional rights of Jose Irizarry Perez while he was celebrating
the local election results at the Las Colinas housing development in
Yauco, Puerto Rico, on Nov. 5, 2008.
Rivera was also charged with violating the civil rights of Irizarry Perez’s father, Jose Irizarry Muniz.
In addition, Rivera, Colon, Officer Miguel Negron Vazquez and
Sergeant Antonio Rodriguez Caraballo were indicted for obstruction of
justice and making false statements to the FBI and a federal grand jury.

According to the 18 count superseding indictment, while Colon held and
restrained Irizarry Perez, Rivera and another POPR officer assaulted
Irizarry Perez with their hands and a police baton, which resulted in
bodily injury to Irizarry Perez.
The superseding indictment alleges that Irizarry Perez was
thereby deprived of his right to be free from unreasonable seizures by
those acting under color of law.
Although Irizarry Perez died as a result of injuries he
sustained on Nov. 5, 2008, the superseding indictment does not include
charges that his death resulted from the defendants’ conduct.
Rivera, who was a supervisor at the time of the incident, was
also charged with failing to intervene and failing to keep Irizarry
Perez and his father from harm when an officer whom Rivera supervised
assaulted the victims in Rivera’s presence.

In addition, the superseding indictment alleges that all four of the
charged officers made false statements concerning the incident to the
FBI and to the federal grand jury which had been investigating the
incident.
Colon and Negron were also charged with obstruction of justice
for submitting false police reports and for providing misleading
information to the Puerto Rico prosecutor that initially investigated
the matter.
Rivera was additionally charged with obstruction of justice for
submitting a false police report, and Rodriguez was charged with
obstruction of justice for providing misleading information to the
Puerto Rico prosecutor.

If convicted, Rivera faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for
each of three charged counts of civil rights violations; a maximum of 20
years in prison for one charged count of obstruction of justice by
submitting a false police report; and a maximum penalty of five years in
prison for one charged count of making a false statement to the FBI and
one charged count of making a false declaration to the grand jury.

If convicted, Colon faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for
one charged count of a civil rights violation; a maximum of 20 years in
prison for one charged count of obstruction of justice by submitting a
false police report and two charged counts of providing misleading
information to the local prosecutor; and a maximum penalty of five years
in prison for one charged count of making a false statement to the FBI
and one charged count of making a false declaration to the grand jury.

If convicted, Negron faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for
one charged count of obstruction of justice by submitting a false police
report and one charged count of providing misleading information to the
local prosecutor; and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for one
charged count of making a false statement to the FBI and one charged
count of making a false declaration to the grand jury.

If convicted, Rodriguez faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison
for one charged count of obstruction of justice by providing misleading
information to the local prosecutor; and a maximum penalty of five years
in prison for one charged count of making a false statement to the FBI
and one charged count of making a false declaration to the grand jury.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the San Juan Division of the FBI and
is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose A. Contreras from
the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico and Senior
Litigation Counsel Gerard Hogan and Trial Attorney Shan Patel from the
Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.